News

Accused shooter in massacre at a small Oakland university sent to mental hospital

By Paul T. Rosynsky Oakland Tribune

Posted:
01/29/2013 05:55:12 AM PST

Updated:
01/29/2013 10:18:54 AM PST

Click photo to enlarge

One Goh, the Korean nationalist accused of killing six people at Oikos University, appears in court at Renee C. Davidson Superior Court House in Oakland, Calif. on Monday, Jan. 28, 2013. Goh being sent to a state mental hospital until he is fit to stand trial. (Laura A. Oda/Staff)

OAKLAND -- One Goh, a former nursing student accused of killing seven people at a small East Oakland private college, was ordered Monday to a state mental hospital.

Goh, 44, will be sent to Napa State Hospital, where he will undergo treatment for numerous psychological issues that are preventing him from understanding court proceedings. Goh will remain at the hospital until doctors determine he is mentally fit to stand trial.

Goh could face the death penalty in the mass shooting last year. He is accused of using a .45-caliber handgun to kill six Oikos University students and a receptionist because the school refused to refund his tuition.

Goh had been attending nursing classes at the college before he dropped out in 2011. After dropping out, Goh requested a tuition refund and was denied, police have said.

On April 2, 2012, Goh walked into the school on Edgewater Drive, near Oakland International Airport, and began shooting. After the killings, Goh stole a car from the campus parking lot and drove to a Safeway in Alameda, where he was overheard talking with a family member about the slayings.

Alameda police were called and arrested Goh. He later confessed to Oakland police.

But since his arrest, Goh has been talking about seeing faces and hearing voices in his head, his attorney, assistant public defender David Klaus said. Goh has had frequent hallucinations and rants about being caught in the middle of a religious battle, Klaus has said.

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Goh has also been on hunger strikes and has lost at least 50 pounds since being held at Santa Rita Jail, Klaus said.

Two court-ordered psychiatrists found that Goh suffers from paranoid schizophrenia and is mentally unable to understand court proceedings to assist in his defense.

Goh can remain in Napa State Hospital for at least three years, after which, if he is still found incompetent, the district attorney's office must file for a "Murphy conservatorship" that keeps Goh at the hospital.

Attorneys will receive progress reports on Goh's mental status every six months.

Goh will be forced to take medication, and if he is ever found competent to stand trial, he will face seven counts of murder and three counts of attempted murder.